About Practice

Having performed thousands of successful laser procedures, Dr. Ilan Cohen is one of the most experienced eye surgeons in the nation. He was the first surgeon in the New York City area to perform cutting-edge corneal surgery such as the implantable contact lens and the artificial corneal transplant. He has been featured on CBS, CNBC, and Fox News for his innovative surgical techniques.

Dr. Ilan Cohen is highly skilled in all aspects of the cornea and refractive surgeries, including LASIK eye surgery, cross-linking (CXL), cataract surgery, Visian ICL implantable contact lenses, and much, much more. He operates at the most prominent eye centers in the New York City area, including The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

Having performed thousands of successful laser procedures, Dr. Ilan Cohen is one of the most experienced eye surgeons in the nation. He was the first surgeon in the New York City area to perform cutting-edge corneal surgery such as the implantable contact lens and the artificial corneal transplant. He has been featured on CBS, CNBC, and Fox News for his innovative surgical techniques.

Dr. Ilan Cohen is highly skilled in all aspects of the cornea and refractive surgeries, including LASIK eye surgery, cross-linking (CXL), cataract surgery, Visian ICL implantable contact lenses, and much, much more. He operates at the most prominent eye centers in the New York City area, including The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

The Expert's Expert

Considered the experts’ expert by his colleagues, Dr. Ilan Cohen’s is the address to which they refer their most challenging cases. He is a trusted adviser who is often called upon to provide new ideas or approaches to difficult problems. His colleagues routinely seek his care and refer their family and friends when eye issues arise. Patients have traveled from as far as Europe, the Middle East, and South America to seek Dr. Ilan Cohen’s surgical skills and expert advice.

Dr. Ilan Cohen also teaches at the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, which is at the forefront of technological and surgical advances for cataract surgery and LASIK surgery, and is where eye surgeons from all around the world gather to learn about the cutting-edge advances in eye surgery. Dr. Cohen’s recent book about LASIK has been widely adapted by eye surgeons worldwide, and he has written many articles for publications such as in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

Dr. Ilan Cohen has devoted his entire life to the perfection and fine-tuning of innovative surgical techniques that provide an added level of safety and new options that were previously unavailable. He has the ability to tailor a vision correction treatment to your eyes in order to minimize risk and maximize visual outcome. Dr. Cohen uses a wide array of advanced laser modalities to achieve the best outcome, however, for those who are not safe candidates for laser procedures, he can offer other non-laser options. Choosing safety first is his guiding principle in recommending an appropriate procedure for you.

LASIK: All You Need to Know

For the very best outcome, choosing Dr. Ilan Cohen and our Manhattan LASIK center to serve you is the single most important decision you will make.

Take the time to research your surgeon carefully. Look for a reputable, skilled surgeon, such as Ilan Cohen MD, who is board-certified and fellowship trained in cornea and refractive surgery. Dr. Cohen is the preferred choice of other physicians and eye doctors. He will patiently answer all of your questions and will help you feel confident about your surgery.

Laser Eye Surgery Resources

LASIK and Cataract Surgery Links:

If you’re interested in learning more about LASIK NJ, LASIK NYC, cataract surgery and other corrective laser eye surgeries nationwide, please check out the links below. A little research can be crucial to the outcome of your laser eye surgery. These independent links are provided as a free service to our visitors, but we are not responsible for the content, advertising, or accuracy of the information provided in these sites.

Refractive Surgery Group:

Here we list several of the world’s leading board certified Ophthalmologists and eye surgeons across the U.S. who have made significant contributions to the field of refractive surgery. They are innovators, educators, respected authors and, above all, highly skilled physicians who are devoted to the medical and surgical treatment of many eye diseases, particularly diseases of the cornea. These refractive surgeons are exceptionally experienced and are among the top LASIK surgeons and cataract surgeons in the nation.

Associations & Organizations:

These resources will provide you with information about some of the professional organizations and associations we support that work diligently in the best interests of medical students, patients and physicians. They support research and development, and provide continuing education and training about new drugs, tools and procedures that help us provide safer, higher quality vision care to patients.

More Information:

Another great way of getting information is by consulting with a qualified refractive surgeon like Dr. Ilan Cohen. If you have any questions at all or simply want to learn more about LASIK eye surgery NJ, LASIK eye surgery NYC, cataract surgery and other laser vision correction options in Manhattan, Glendale NY, the greater New York area, or Old Bridge, New Jersey and surrounding cities, we welcome you to email, call or visit us in person.

Advanced Technology

Most Advanced: Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser

Dr. Cohen’s first choice in excimer lasers is the Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser, which he uses in more than 90% of his New Jersey and New York LASIK cases. Dr. Cohen also uses the WaveLight FS200 Femtosecond laser in bladeless LASIK. These are the newest machines available.

He selected this laser technology because he considers it to be the leader of the pack. In Dr. Cohen’s expert hands, the Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser technology consistently achieves the best outcomes, improves patient comfort, and greatly reduces the need for enhancements.

Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser (built by the German company, Erlangen WaveLight GmbH, a subsidiary of Alcon in Fort Worth, TX) is the newest, fastest and most precise excimer laser system available in the world. It was approved by the FDA in 2006. Operating at 500Hz while applying 400 treatment pulses per second, the Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser makes it possible to perform accurate laser vision correction up to 10 times faster than other methods. It provides superior results, greater precision, and better safety.

When compared to other excimer lasers, the Allegretto WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser:

customizes every treatment to the patient’s individual prescription and cornea

delivers precise work at high speed with PerfectPulse Technology™

high speed means less stress and discomfort for patients

follows the eye’s fastest movements with high-speed eye-tracker

automatically adjusts to changes in pupil size during treatment

achieves a rounder, more natural corneal surface than many other lasers

Gold Standard: VISX® STAR S4 IR

This is the most commonly-used excimer laser machine in the USA (from Abbott Medical Optics, Inc., Santa Ana, CA). VISX is the American company that invented laser vision correction in 1986 and the company was later acquired by Abbott.

VISX® STAR S4 is 15-year-old technology that has undergone a series of upgrades in the last few years. (Think of it as upgrading the CPU, the memory and other features on your old desktop PC.) It delivers a broad range of wavefront-guided laser vision correction treatments to patients, but has limited success in treatment of astigmatism and may induce glare and halos when not in the “wavefront” mode (which cannot be used in all patients).

Bladeless Flap Creation: Ziemer FEMTO LDV™ FS Laser

A femtosecond (FS) laser is the first step in the “all-laser” or “bladeless” Custom LASIK procedure and is used to shape and create the corneal flap for qualified patients. This eliminates the need for cutting a flap with the traditional mechanical microkeratome, a hand-operated blade instrument. After a flap has been created, treatment with the excimer laser (above) begins.

Dr. Ilan Cohen’s femtosecond laser of choice is the Ziemer FEMTO LDV™ (Ziemer Group, Port, Switzerland), which is the newest and most advanced FS laser approved by the FDA (2008). With a beam that is faster but less intense than conventional FS lasers, this innovative high-frequency technology allows more flexibility in flap cutting, improves safety to the highest level, and promotes faster healing and better patient comfort.

Dr. Cohen prefers the Ziemer FEMTO LDV™ for its tremendous level of control and unprecedented precision, and believes that the laser’s advantages lead to the best results for his patients. The laser’s proprietary cutting process results in better visualization and effortless separation of the flap, and enables the surgeon to begin the excimer laser ablation process immediately. This saves time and minimizes exposure of the stroma (the middle layer of the cornea). The laser’s ability to create ultra-thin flaps can also be effective for patients who are not ordinarily laser surgery candidates, such as those with thin corneas or extreme myopia.

When compared to other femtosecond lasers, the Ziemer FEMTO LDV™:

is small, mobile and easily fits under excimer lasers, eliminating the need to move the patient

reduces procedure time by being 3 to 5 times faster than all other FS lasers

is more gentle to the corneal tissue

reduces discomfort, inflammation and the risk of unwanted nighttime side effects

is more precise, more predictable and safer

has a shorter recovery period

is more likely to achieve 20/20 or better vision

While some doctors argue that lasers are better than blades for cutting corneal flaps, both types of LASIK surgery are successful and achieve comparable results. Traditional blade LASIK with a microkeratome is widely believed to be faster and more comfortable for most patients. On the other hand, bladeless LASIK is often considered more precise and less risky.